End of a year, start of a year

This is one of those housekeeping posts.  Not a lot of pictures.  Maybe no pictures at all.  We'll see.

Before I reflect and the past and look to the future I should plug a contest.  Dan, over at It's like having my own Card Shop, is hosting a contest to support Corky over at Pack War.  Basically go follow Pack War and then let Dan know.

Now let me look back.  Not to see how I met my goals for 2013.  I'm too indifferent to compare.  I guess I could see where I failed, where I excelled and then strive to do better this year.  Why wallow in the past?

Okay, maybe a bit.  Last year was my slowest card blogging year ever.  119 posts.  10 per month.  One every three days.  I'm okay with that.  I had a good run commissioning Gint-A-Cuffs.  I kept up with Baseball Nuggets and Old Knoxville Baseball.  Not so much with Got it. Got it. Need it.  I feel that I've almost abandoned North Country Baseball, although I don't want to.

Am I trying to blame the lack of posts on my busyness?  No, not really.

So what I have I accomplished in the card collecting world?  I've branched out a bit.  Tobacco cards.  My Topps Type Collection is complete, but I might consider tweaking it in the future.  I've bought and sold on Listia.  I've expanded my Jeff Burton card collection.

I've actually fleshed out a Jeff Burton checklist.  I need to post it publicly and then get to cracking on making use of it.

I got two in person autographs of baseball players.  Tony Campana and Fergie Jenkins.

I went to several baseball games.  All minor league.  Three stadiums.  Two leagues.  Two states.  That was fun.  Went to two historic stadiums.  Joe Engel in Chattanooga and Rickwood in Birmingham.  Those were also fun.

So, I guess I did need to look back.  That was pleasant for me.  It made watching Downton Abbey almost bearable.  Okay, that was okay, as well.  Except for Lady Mary's stiff lines and acting in the first half of the season premier.  There may be some fictitious cards in the near future.

So, what does 2014 hold?  Criswell isn't here to tell me, so I'll make up some stuff.

• I'll blog when I darn well feel like it and when I feel like I have something worthwhile to say.
• I've started a new football player collection.  Well, is one card a collection?  Maybe not, but it is a start.  Need to create a checklist and prioritize my goals for this player.  Then share him out.
• Start and finish cataloging my Jeff Burton cards
• Create a checklist for Kevin McHale cards.  Catalog same.
• Put my player collections in some sort of order.  Too many stacks of cards, not enough full binder pages.  Specifically Earl Wilson, Kevin McHale, Bill Wade, Jeff Burton, Orel Hershiser.
• As part of cataloging make sure that I'm using Zistle more.
• Add more blogs to follow.  Read them.  Comment on them.
• Engage at least two bloggers I've never sent a package to.  Send them a package, trade or goodness.
• Read more books about the hobby.  Operation Bullpen.  Before there was Bubble Gum.  Those types of books.
• Focus on older cards.  Pre WWII.  Pick up a few of them.
• Find a local card show.  Attend it.  This will be a tough one.  It looks like a two hour trip to the closest one.  I could get knock off some of my other goals with what I'd spend for gas.

That's enough.  I'm getting tired.  I know that other bloggers have gotten much more ambitious with their goals than I have.  That's fine.  This isn't a competition.

I'll keep doing what I've been doing and hope that you keep coming back.  Thanks for supporting me these last five years or so.